Bottle soaking and cleaning machine



,April 12,1932 G. J. vMEYi-:R T Al. 1,853,917

BQTTLE SOAKING AND CLEANING MACHINE Filed Deo. 2o, 1928 v l\.

Patented Apr. 1.2, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GEORGE J. MEYER, 0F MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, AN D GEORGE Ia. N. MEYER, 0F JACKSON HEIGHTS, NEW YORK, ASSIGNORS T0 GEO. .TMMEYER MANUFACTURING COMPANY,'

0F CUIDAHY, WISCONSIN, A' kCORPORATION 0F \'WISCONSIN f BOTTLE SAKING AND CLEANING MACHINE Application led December 20, 1 928. Serial No. 327,248.

In certain types of large capacity bottlev cleaning machines incorporating asoaker through .which an endless bottle conveyor passes, it has been the practice to extend the v a frame of sultable construction includlng conveyor in such manner that the machine 'as a whole occupies space on two floors 1n order to facilitate loading' and unloadlng f' o perations. In many cases the loading station 1s located at the lower iioor and the" unloading station at the upper floor, although in some instances both loading'` and unloading stations were at the upper floor while' the major portion of the machine was at the lower floor. In any case the return iiight of theconveyor leading to the soaker is of' considerable length and thisflight of the conveyor has heretofore been idle.

In order to substantially increase the soakf ing capacityof a machine of this type without vincreasing' the `iioor space, or to obtain the same soaking capacity in a machine occupying less Hoor space, it is an object kof the invention to provide 'a supplemental soaking tank through which the return 'flight of the bottle' conveyor passes on its way to ,the soaker for eiecting a preliminary soaking operation.

Another object of the invention is to ar- Irange the soaker of the bottle cleaning ma` chine on one floor and to arrange on the floor below'the supplemental soaking tank through which the return Hight of the loaded conveyor passes on its way to the soaker.

A furtherbbject of the invention is to provide means for heating the bottles rapidly and without danger of breakage in the rising iight of the conveyor leading from the supplemental soaking tank to the soaker, this being accomplished by a steam compartment enclosing the-rising. flight of the conveyor, thus dispensing with the use of additional soaking compartments.

A further object `Lis to employ the supplemental soaking tank for effecting a water4 seal at the lower end of the steam compartment. Y

The invention furtherconsists in the feaing clean bottles from the conveyor.

tures hereinafter set forth and more particularly defined by the annexed claims.

Thev accompanyingl drawing shows a longitudinal sectional elevation of a bottle cleaning machine constructed in accordance with this invention. f y In this drawing, the numeral 10 designates angle and channel guides 11 on which travel the rollers 12 of conveyor c ains. The conveyor chains carry transversely` extending rows of bottle-holding pockets in the manner shown in UnitedStates Letters Patent No. 1,429,960, granted Septemberv26,1922,

'and form therewith an endless bottle conin the drawing, the conveyor includes an y upper horizontal flight on one Hoor A and a lower horlzontal return flightv on iioor B therebelow, these horizontal iights being connected by a descending angular flight at one end of the machine. A loading device 13 of any suitable construction is disposed adj a' cent the descending flight of the conveyor at floor B for feeding' bottles into the pockets of the conveyor and this device may beeither Amanually ior automatically operated. An

unloadingdevice 14 of any suitable construction 1s disposed adjacent the descending flight of the conveyor at floor A for discharg- The descending conveyor flight between the unloading device 'and the loading device is empty and any slack in the conveyor may accumulate at the lower portion of this iiight. The horizontal return Hight of the conveyor on floor B is disposed within an elon-` gated shallow soaking tank 15 containing a cleaning solution in which the bottles are given a preliminary soaking during the first portion of their travel from the loading station. The portion of the bottle 'conveyor entering one end, of the soaking tank is cary ried on guidewheels 16 engaging the conveyor rollers 12. The bottles pass, through 10Q the preliminaryr soaking tank 15 in an u ri ht position 1n which the are com lete y ed and in which they sli e along t e botl `tom ofthe tank. The preliminary soaking the solution in the en tank is preferably of `enclosed construev tion, as shown,w1th entrance and exit wells at Aopposite ends, although in someinstances an opentank may be lem loyed. The level of wells is at some distance above the to wall of the tank, thereby increasin the soa ing capacity for a given length o tank and for a given quantity of solution.

At the end of the preliminary soakinv tank 15 opposite the loading station, the bottle conveyor travels upwardly from the solution in an'inclined Hight, the bottles in the first rportion of their upward travel being prevented rom leaving the conveyor by reason of their engagement with the curved end wall 17 of the tank. At this end of the tank the from the bottles in the preliminary .soaking operation are removedfrom the soaking compartment 15 in` any suitable nianner.

The rising inclined Hight of the bottle con` veyor leads from the preliminary soaking tank on Hoor'B to a soaker arranged on the upper Hoor A and in which'the main soaking operation takes place, the bottles -moving through the soaker in a general direction opposite to that in, which they'move in the lower horizontal Hight of the conveyor on Hoor B. In order to heat the bottles in their passage from the preliminary soakingtank to the soaker on the Hoor thereabove, the rising Hight of the bottle conveyor is enclosed in asteam compartment 19, the upper end -of which is connected with the Vsoaker and4 the lower end of which has a water seal in the outlet fend of the preliminary soaking tank. This water seal may be obtained either 'by submerging the lower walls of the steam compartment into the soaking tank, or by directly securing the steam compartment walls to the walls ofthe soaking tank. 4The steam compartment or chamber' 19 is filled with steam at about atmospheric pressure by means of whiclr'the bottles leavingI the warm solution ly heated without danger of breakage. be-

. cause of the low specific heat of steam. The

steammay be admitted into the chamber 19" through asuitably located inlet 19',l l Byrea son ofthe'water seal at the lower end ofthe steamcompartment, this compartment can be maintained steam tight regardless of whether thehorizontal tank 15 is of open or 1,sas,917

The main soaking tank or soaker comprises a pluralit of soaking compartments 20, through w ich the bottle conveyorjpasses in a series of reversel'y-directed descending and ascending flights by means of which the bottles enter and leave the successive compartments, the bottle conveyor ybeing carried `and guided on wheels or sheaves 21. In the sinuous travel of the conveyor through the soaker, the bottles are thoroughly agitated, and to further increase the agitating action rotatinnagitators 22 are placed in one or more of the compartments. Guard plates 23 collecting in the soaking compartments 20 l maybe removed through -hand-holes or clean-outs 25 at the bottoms of these compartments. The solutions in the preliminary -soaking compartment 15 on Hoor B and in the main soaking compartments 20 onvHoor A are maintained at a suitable temperature by means of steam pipes 26. The steam pipes 26 in the shallow horizontal preliminary soaking tank v15 are arranged along the top walls of the tank. l

The bottle conveyor afterz leaving the soaker on Hoor A enters its upper horizontal Hight heretofore noted. This Hight of the conveyor is intermittently moved, step by step, y any4 suitable means such as that described in the above noted United States Letters Patent No. 1,429,960. In this intermittently moving Hight of the conveyor the bottles are rinsedand raised out of the conveyor pockets and projected between rotary `cleaning-brushes 27, as described inthe above 4 bythe unloading device 14. inthe prellmmary soa-kms tank can be rapid.- By means of theinxventon, it is possible f to construct a bottle washing machine of the high output type having'greatly increased l soaking capacity without requiring additional Hoor spacein length, andthe amount of idle conveyor chain is substantially reduced. Y

. i What we claimas new and desire secure .by Letters Patent is:

1. .'In a bottle cleaning machine, the combilower end having a water seal at said soaking' accesar nationof a soaker arranged` on one Hoor, a bottle conveyor passing through saidI soaker and Vincluding a Hight leading to said soaker and arranged on aHoor below said soaker, a soaking tank arranged on the lower Hoor and through -which said conveyor flight passes for effecting a preliminary soaking operation, saidbottle conveyor including a rising Hight leading from said soaking tank to said soaker, and a steam chamber enclosing said rising conveyor Hight and at its operation,sa1d soaking tank having openings ing conveyor flight and communicating with said soaker, liquid seal at the adjacent well and an upper liquid seal at said soaker.-

6. In a bottle cleaning machine, the combination of a soaker, an endless bottle conveyor passing through said soaker and including a kHight leading to said soaker and disposed therebelow, below said soaker and throu h which said conveyor Hight passes, said soa ing tank having an end port1on extending be ond the S11.-

a soakingtank disposed'` said chamber having aA lower perposed soaker and at which t e conveyor leaves said soakin tank in an ascending Hight le'ading to said soaker, and a chamber enclosing said ascending conveyor Hight and having a lower liquid seal at said soaking tank and an upper liquid seal at said soaker.

tures. 1

GEORGE J. MEYER. v GEORGE L. N. MEYER.

(adjacent opposite ends through which the conveyor enters and leaves said tank, said conveyor including a flight leading from said soaking tank to said soaker on the Hoor thereabove and a steam chamber through which said last-named conveyor Hight passes, said steam chamber having a water seal at the discharge end of said soaking tank.

' 3. In a bottle cleaning bination of a pair of soaking compartments arranged one below the other and connected by` a steam chamber having liquid seals at both of saidsoaking compartments, and an machine, thecom-v endless bottle conveyor passing successively through .said soaking compartments and including a connecting Hight passing through said steam chamber for heating the bottles in the conveyor in their passage therein.

. 4. In a'bottle cleaning. machine, the combination of a'soaker, a bottle conveyor passing through said soaker and including a Hight disposed therebelow, a soaking tank arranged below said soaker and receiving therein said conveyor Hight, said bottle conveyor lincluding a rising Hight leading from said soaking tank to said soaker, said soaking tank having an upwardly projecting well .through which said rising Hight leaves said tank, and afsteam chamber through which said rising conveyor Hight passes on its way to the soaker and having a liquid seal at said well.

5. In a bottle cleaningmachine, the combination of a soaker, an endless bottle conveyor passing I Hight leading to said soaker and` disposed therebelow, a soaking tank below said soaker through which 'said conveyor Hight passes,

said soaking tank including upwardly projecting liquid-containingwells at opposite lends to present passages through which the through said soaker and including a In testimony whereof, we 'aHlx our signa- Y lao conveyor enters and leaves said soaking tank y in respective descendin and ascendin flights, and a chamber en c osing said ascen 

